Weasley vs. Vaisey
The day after the whole debacle about saving Sirius from the Dementors, Corvus skipped the Hogsmeade trip. It would've been his last Hogsmeade trip of his fourth year, but he was too exhausted – mentally and physically.
"Look," said Max quietly. His friend hadn't been interested in going to Hogsmeade either. Something was weighing on him too. Corvus never asked what it was. He had enough on his mind.
Corvus lifted his head. He'd been on his way to taking a well-deserved nap. First all he noticed was the giant squid waving its tentacles lazily above the water. Then he saw what Max was talking about.
Potter, Granger and Weasley were approaching them. All three of them wore bright, smiling faces. This irritated Corvus instantly. Surely for them last night was another fun adventure, but it meant something entirely different for him.
"Hello," Granger greeted sweetly. Corvus sat up, fixing them with a scowl.
"Huh… we wanted to know if we could speak to you for a second, alone," said Potter, his eyes darting to Max and back. By this time, unbeknownst to the Gryffindor trio, Corvus had told Max everything.
"Why?"
Potter and his friends exchanged lost looks. "We wanted to ask about – er – about…"
"Your mother," chirped Granger. Leandra had left with Sirius and Buckbeak. "We wanted to just ask how she is… and if, well, if everything went well…"
"And if she has a new pet dog?" Weasley finished off. He seemed so proud of himself for coming up with that code word. Corvus made a derisive noise.
"A new pet dog?" he repeated tensely. "Sure… she got it at Britain's biggest doghouse, you know, Weasley, your place."
X
X
That was the last thing Corvus said to a member of the Weasley family. And as they approached the Weasleys' tents, he discovered something worse. Potter and Granger were there too.
"We're going to go look for Louis," he said quickly and tried to turn away, but his mother grabbed him by the elbow.
"No."
"But mum - !"
"Calm down, Corvus."
"Ahoy there!" Bagman called to the Weasleys. He felt nothing but spite for his mother at the moment.
"Blimey, look…" he heard one of the twins say. All the Weasley members that knew them from Hogwarts had their beady ginger eyes on him and Max. He looked to his friend; his mouth was slightly twisted into an uncomfortable grimace. Obviously this didn't sit well with him either.
Max always disliked the twins – there'd been enough times during a night run when the Salesmen would run into Fred and George Weasley. Pranks would ensue, hexes would be thrown at both parties and some times someone was caught by Filch. Corvus felt their spars with the twins were more for fun, it added more excitement to their regular rule breaking. Plus, the twins were regular customers of theirs. Still, Max found them annoying.
Leandra whispered in his ear, "Five minutes."
He inwardly groaned and dragged his feet as much as possible, even digging his feet into the earth. Bagman reached the campfire first, oblivious to what torture this was.
"Arthur, old man," puffed Bagman.
Arthur Weasley got to his feet the moment he'd spotted Bagman. He was a tall, thin and balding man. It was disturbing to see the resemblance amongst them all.
Why? Why did his mother insist on putting him through this? Leandra practically carried Corvus over to stand next to her. She let go of his arm, and at once he crossed his arms moodily.
"What a day, eh?" grinned Bagman. "What a day! Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming… and hardly a hiccough in the arrangements… not much for me to do!"
Corvus noticed a group of haggard-looking Ministry wizards rush past. They were pointing at the distant evidence of some sort of magical fire that was sending violent sparks twenty feet into the air.
His attention was brought back when he noticed a Weasley had hurried forward at them. It was Percy Weasley, with his hand stretched out to shake hands with Bagman and Leandra.
"It is a pleasure Ms. Black, truly a pleasure."
"Please… no need to be… so kind…"
"Ah – yes," said Mr. Weasley, grinning, "this is my son, Percy, he's just started at the Ministry – and this is Fred – no, George, sorry – that's Fred – Bill, Charlie, Ron – my daughter, Ginny," as he introduced his herd of children, Corvus stared upwards at a flock of birds going by. Max's eyes were glued to his shoes, " –and Ron's friends Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."
At Potter's name, Leandra smiled. It dawned on Corvus why his mother wanted to meet them all. Whatever's dear to Sirius is dear to her too now…
"Everyone," Mr Weasley continued, "this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, it's thanks to him we've got such good tickets – "
Bagman waved his hands as if to say it had been nothing. "You don't mind if we take a rest, do you, Leandra?" Bagman asked as he sat down with the Weasley family.
"Oh of course not," she assured him, and to Corvus's horror she sat down too. "We can do with a rest, right boys?"
"I really need to go find –"
"Corvus," she gave him a pointed look and patted the ground next to her. He looked over at Max, who surrendered first and sat down. This meant Corvus had to too.
"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?" Bagman asked, jingling what seemed to be a large amount of gold in the pockets of his yellow and black robes. "I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first – I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years – and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares in her eel farm on a week-long match."
"Oh… go on, then," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's see… a Galleon on Ireland to win?"
"A Galleon?" Bagman looked slightly disappointed. Corvus couldn't help but cough suspiciously, smirking cruelly. "Very well, very well… how about you, Leandra?"
She laughed at the offer. "I don't gamble, at least not on Quidditch," she said, winking playfully to Potter. "Now dog racing, that's another story."
"Oh please," said Corvus under his breath.
"Any other takers?" Bagman asked.
"They're a bit young to be gambling. Molly wouldn't like - "
"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts," said one of the twins. They quickly pooled their money together. Corvus arched an eyebrow, discreetly glancing at Max. A Weasley throwing around numbers like that? Interesting. "That Ireland win – but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch."
Coco squealed happily. Everyone gave her a bewildered stare, which she didn't notice. "Oh! That is so wise! Viktor Krum is the best Seeker! Coco makes the same bet!"
"No, Coco," Leandra told her sharply. "You've already spent your allowance this month, and really, I must draw the line somewhere with you and Quidditch." Coco's bottom lip trembled.
"You give your House-elf an allowance?" Granger asked, amazed. Corvus had forgotten how irritating her voice was.
"Yes, otherwise she tries sowing her own Quidditch jerseys," smiled Leandra. "It's quite sore for the eyes."
"Oh, and we'll throw in a fake wand," a twin said, returning to the business at hand.
"You don't want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish like that – " hissed Percy Weasley. But Bagman roared with laughter when he took the wand and it gave a great squawk, turning into a rubber chicken.
"Boys," said Mr. Weasley under his breath, "I don't want you betting… that's all your savings… your mother – "
"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!"
"Ludo, if it's their savings," Leandra tried to rationalize. "Really, they don't even look of age - "
"They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance - "
"There is chances!" squeaked Coco.
"I'll give you excellent odds on that one," Bagman continued. "We'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we…" Bagman whipped out a notebook and quill and began jotting down the twins' names.
"Cheers," said a twin, taking the slip of parchment Bagman handed him and tucking it away into the front of his robes.
"Couldn't do us a brew, I suppose? We're keeping an eye out for Barty Crouch. My Bulgarian opposite number's making difficulties, and I can't understand a word he's saying."
"It might be about making adjustments to the Top Box," Corvus's mother said. She rolled her eyes, "Top Box viewers never cease to complain. Best bloody seats in the house, but no appeasement…"
"Barty'll be able to sort it out," Bagman said. "He speaks about a hundred and fifty languages."
"Mr Crouch?" said Percy Weasley. "He speaks over two hundred! Mermish and Gobbledegook and Troll…"
"Anyone can speak Troll," said a twin dismissively. "All you have to do it point and grunt…"
Corvus nearly laughed at this, the humor of it really stemmed from how furious Percy Weasley looked. He threw his brothers an extremely nasty look, and stoked the fire vigorously to bring the kettle back to a boil.
"Any news of Bertha Jorkins yet, Ludo?" asked Mr. Weasley.
"Not a dicky bird," he said comfortably. "But she'll turn up. Poor old Bertha… memory like a leaky cauldron and no sense of direction. Lost, you take my word for it. She'll wander back into the office some time in October, thinking it's still July."
"You don't think it might be time to send someone to look for her?" Mr. Weasley suggested tentatively as Percy handed Bagman his tea.
"Do you want tea too?" asked Ginny Weasley.
Corvus blinked, surprised to be addressed by any of them. He'd never spoken to the girl Weasley before – not that he could remember. She was giving him a funny looking, smiling at him and forcing him into eye-contact…
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Really?"
"I said no and meant it."
Her smile was invincible though. She turned to Max, same look on her face. "Do you want tea?"
Max shook his head.
"Are you sure?"
Corvus realized what was going on. The twins were silently shaking, hiding their suppressed laughter behind their cups of tea. Of course… she was purposely antagonizing them…
"I'll have some tea," his mother said, smiling knowingly. The girl Weasley went about fixing her a cup.
"Barty Crouch keeps saying that," said Bagman, still oblivious. "But we really can't spare anyone at the moment. Oh – talk of the devil! Barty!"
Barty Crouch had just Apparated at the fireside. Crouch was a stiff, upright, elderly man. He was expertly dressed as a Muggle, he wore a crisp suit and tie. The parting in his short grey hair was critically straight and his narrow toothbrush moustache looked as though he trimmed it with perfect precision.
"Pull up a bit of grass, Barty," said Bagman brightly.
"No thank you, Ludo," said Crouch, there was tinge of impatience in his voice. "I've been looking for you everywhere."
"Hello, Barty," greeted Leandra. "How are you?"
"Alright, but the Bulgarians are insisting we add another twelve seats to the Top Box."
"We thought it had something to do with that," she sighed.
"I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers," said Bagman. "Bit of a strong accent."
"Mr. Crouch!" said Percy Weasley breathlessly. "Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Oh," said Mr. Crouch, looking over the Weasley in mild surprise. "Yes – thank you, Weatherby."
Max blurted a laugh but tried to hide it behind a cough. Percy Weasley busied himself with the kettle, very pink around his ears.
"Oh, and I've been wanting a word with you too, Aurther," said Mr. Crouch, his sharp eyes falling upon Mr. Weasley. "Ali Bashir's on the warpath. He wants a word with oyu about your embargo on flying carpets."
Mr. Weasley sighed heavily, "I sent him an owl about that just last week. If I've told him once I've told him a hundred times: carpets are defined as Muggle Artefact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, but will he listen?"
"I doubt it," said Mr. Crouch, accept a cup of tea from 'Weatherby.' "He's desperate to export here."
"Well, they'll never replace brooms in Britain, will they?" said Bagman.
"Ali thinks there's a niche in the market for a family vihicle," said Mr. Crouch. "I remember my grandfather had an Axminister that could seat twelve – but that was before carpets were banned, of course."
"Of course," repeated Leandra, smirking slightly.
"So, been keeping busy Barty?" said Bagman breezily.
"Fairly. Organizing Portkeys across five continents is no mean feat, Ludo."
"I expect you'll both be glad when this over?" said Mr. Weasley.
"Glad!" repeated Bagman, shocked, "Don't know when I've had more fun. And wonderful friendships were built through this, eh, Leandra?"
"Terribly wonderful," she concurred, though Corvus noted the sarcasm.
"Still," Bagman said, "it's not as though we haven't got anything to look forward to, eh, Barty? Eh? Plenty left to organize, eh?"
Crouch raised his eyebrow at Bagman, "We agreed not to make announcements until all the details - "
"Details! They've signed, haven't they? They've agreed, haven't they? I bet you anything these kids'll know soon enough anyway. I mean it happening at Hogwarts - "
Leandra looked to Corvus and Max. There was a mischievous look in her eyes, the two boys smirked back at her.
"Ludo, we need to meet the Bulgarians, you know," said Crouch sharply, cutting Bagman's remarks short. "Thank you for the tea, Weatherby."
Crouch returned his tea to Percy Weasley and waited for Ludo and Leandra to get to their feet.
His mother leaned over to Corvus and Max. "You boys can go now, I suppose that was enough torture for now," she whispered.
She got to her feet easily while Bagman struggled, "Come Coco, you'll like seeing the stadium before the match, won't you?"
"Oh thank you, thank you, Lady Leandra!" Coco quickly rushed to take Leandra's hand.
"See you all later," Bagman waved to the Weasleys. "We'll all be up in the Top Box together – with me commentating!"
His mother gave them all a final smile and Crouch nodded curtly. Then they Disapparated. In the blink of an eye, Max was on his feet. "Come on Blackstone," he urged.
"What's happening at Hogwarts, Dad?" said a twin. "What were they talking about?"
"You'll find out soon enough," smiled Mr. Weasley.
"It's classified information, until such time as the Ministry decides to release it," said Percy Weasley stiffly. "Mr. Crouch was quite right not to disclose it."
"Oh, shut up Weatherby."
Corvus got up and brushed himself off. The girl Weasley pointed at him. "You know what's happening, don't you?"
"Haven't a clue," he replied with a sneering face. He couldn't completely dismiss her question, not in front of her father. "Good bye."
He turned away from them. Max had already put some distance between him and the Weasley family. He wanted to get on with their own plans for the day, Corvus did too, even if that meant they'd have to blindly trek through the entire campsite looking for Louis.
However, he'd barely taken a step before the twins appeared before him, blocking his way. Corvus couldn't believe they'd try to provoke him in front of Mr. Weasley, but he was prepared to start anyway. His hand went to his wand in his pocket.
"Woah!" one of them raised their hands. "Take it easy, Black, we aren't here for that."
"Really?"
"Yeah, we've got something to talk to you about," his brother said in a hushed tone. "Something that's got good potential for both our parties."
Corvus frowned and beckoned for Max to come over. One of the twin's fished a folded up piece of parchment from his pocket.
"We've been thinking up of some merchandise that could really sell at a place like Hogwarts." He unfolded it and showed it to Corvus.
"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" Corvus read out loud. Both twins flinched and hissed for him to keep his voice down, looking over at their father. Max read with Corvus, it was a price-list of things, joke stuff, like fake wands, trick sweets…
"We've got a few prototypes going, but we'll need a broader supply source than what we've got now…"
"You two know this isn't how it's done," said Max. He took the parchment from Corvus and handed it back to them.
"Right, you're looking for Sal's Guys and you know to go through the motions for that."
The Weasley twins looked disappointed, "Alright, but you get how this would be a good investment for you lot too?"
"For us? Haven't a clue what you're talking about, we're not the Salesmen," Corvus told them with a grin. The twins rolled their eyes but finally stepped aside for them to pass.
Once they'd left the twins behind, Corvus whispered to Max, "What do you think?"
"If they don't lose what little money they have or what on this match," he replied coolly, "It'd be feasible."
"Agreed," he nodded. "Should we go back to that Muggle and ask him where Louis's tent is?"
"Actually… I thought Cho might know."
Corvus grinned at him. He was about to tease his friend about his 'good friend' when a spangled banner caught his attention a few tents down towards the woods. It was pure luck that he turned to look, because when he did, he found a boy with light, feathery blonde hair laughing with a group of teenage girls.
It was Louis Vaisey.
They were sitting beneath the spangled banner. It read The Salem Witches' Institute, and it was stretched between two tents. The girls appeared to be in constant giggles. Louis's dazzling blue eyes jumped from one girl to the next as he spun some tale. His playful stare rested on each girl just long enough to make her blush.
Louis had always been a social butterfly. Good-looking and funny, people naturally were drawn to him. Every piece of gossip floating around Hogwarts went through him first, especially in Slytherin. It was good to have an ear out for school gossip; it helped the Salesmen understand what the demand was and what the supply needed to be.
"Figures," muttered Max as they came over.
"I'm being honest, come on," Louis was saying with a devilish smile. "Why would I go lying to you? I admit, yeah, my lost friends are convenient for me. I get to come and talk with you birds. A lovely way to start off the day, it is."
"Is that your silver linin'?" one girl asked him, giggling again.
"'Course you're my silver lining," he told her. "I adore my American friends – Oi! There they are!"
Corvus and Max were practically standing over them. Louis jumped to his feet. Standing he measured a half a head shorter than Corvus. Slytherin's best Chaser, Louis had an athletic build to top off his Veela-good looks.
"Ladies, allow me to introduce Corvus and Max, who were up to this point, lost," he said charmingly.
"Hi!" they sang as one.
"Anyway, remember! After the match tonight, I want you girls sneaking away from those hags and come find me," he winked at them. The girls promised they'd do exactly that.
As they walked away Corvus could hear their giggles for a long time.
"So those are your American friends?" asked Max, grinning sheepishly.
Louis laughed. "American girls are delightful. You don't have to do anything, just 'talk in dat super cute accent!'"
"You're not thinking about leaving us to move to America, are you?" asked Corvus. They walked back in the direction of the gates.
"Tempting, it is," he said. "If it's full of girls like them – they've got exotic names like Kelly, Kimmie and Sarah – actually Sarah's common here too."
They laughed. Corvus always marveled at how easily Louis navigated through girls.
"By the way," Louis said, "it's best you don't mention Luxembourg losing to Bulgaria in the semi-finals. Jean-Luc plays as a Chaser for them, and well, he's taking the lost pretty bad – are you wearing red, anywhere? Red's Bulgarian colors…"
Corvus gave himself a look over. "No, no red."
"We'll need to get you something green then, to be on the safe side."
"How's your sister taking their lost?"
"I actually think Siobhan is relieved Luxembourg's out of the running," Louis chuckled. "She's one of the Healers for the tournament, and there's been loads of injuries. For her, the more teams bumped out of the Championships, the better – Here we are!" he presented loudly.
The three-story tent with the many turrets they'd seen early was before them.
"You know, we bought this from the Stirling Tower," he said to Corvus.
"Aren't you worried Mr. Roberts is going to see this?" asked Max.
"Nah, there's loads of Ministry chaps running around," he told him. "All they have to do is use a Obliviator swipe on the Muggle, and it's fixed."
Max didn't look pleased with that. Corvus studied the tent. There were five towers and leaning out of the topmost window of one tower was Claire Vaisey. She had a large camera in her hands and she was taking pictures of something.
"Oi! Claire!" Louis shouted.
She put her camera down, smiling brightly. Her light blonde hair was pinned up and her face was bare from make-up, but she didn't need it. She was graceful and beautiful, equaling her younger brother's looks easily.
"Corvus!" she exclaimed eagerly. She looked into her room, "Anna, where is she? Corvus is here!"
"What are you doing?" Corvus asked. She fixed him with a mischievous smirk reminiscent of Louis's.
"The magazine wants me to take some shots of the campsites," she told him. Her eyes sparkled, "But then I found Claude getting his head bitten off by his boss!"
She pointed out their cousin Claude standing further down the row of tents before a man with what appeared to be horns on top of his head.
Claude was also part-Veela. The sway Louis held over girls at Hogwarts was nothing compared to what Claude had. There was a raw, edgy feel to Claude's good looks. His eyes were a darker blue, giving him an intense stormy stare. Corvus remembered watching him in the Great Hall multiple times luring girls to him from across distances.
But right now he wasn't trying to lure anyone, he was looking down at his feet while the man with the horns wagged his finger at him, yelling till his face turned red.
"Claude works in the Committee on Experimental Charms," Louis explained, snickering. "That's his boss, Gilbert Wimple."
"What's he getting in trouble for?" asked Corvus.
"Remember that charm he taught us at the end of our second year? His 'stop-hitting-yourself' charm?"
"Sure. We used it on first-years."
"Well, he used it last night on like a group of six people," Louis laughed. "Problem was that Muggle by the gates saw it."
"Actually it was his kid who saw it," corrected Claire nonchalantly. Max's eyes narrowed.
"Whatever," said Louis. "It was funny though. Claude made this great, whale of a man cry like a girl. His voice got all high and shaky, right Claire?"
She laughed, her laugh sounded like little silver bells. Suddenly she turned to look back in her room. There was a noise of something falling over and a few thumping footsteps. Finally Claire moved over to make space at the window for two more girls.
Anna Vaisey appeared, looking a little breathless. She was as beautiful too, though she always carried herself like a veteran athlete. She played Keeper for the Falmouth Falcons. She kept her hair short, so no one could try grabbing it while in play. "Look who's finally here," she grinned pulling someone else into the window frame.
It was Daphne Greengrass, the newest member of the Salesmen and their only girl.
After they'd gotten rid of Jeremy Petzold, the thought of finding a replacement hadn't crossed any of their minds. It was pure dumb luck that they found Daphne – actually it was Corvus who stumbled upon her last school year. He found her in one of the greenhouses while he was searching for clues about Sirius's whereabouts.
Herbology was a family business for the Greengrass's and while the Salesmen did have a middleman in Hogsmeade who got the herbs and whatnot they needed for potions, having Daphne would save them money and time. Initially the Salesmen only wanted to set up a trading agreement with her. But she flat out refused to be their one-stop-shop – she wanted to be more than that.
"Hey, Daphne," he waved. Corvus was happy to see that Louis's sisters had taken a liking to was a year below them. She had thick, golden blonde hair and brown eyes.
"Hi…"
"We've missed you terribly, Corey," cooed Anna. The Vaisey sisters laughed wickedly. Corey was the horrible nickname MacDougal had used for Corvus while they were dating. He hit Louis on the shoulder.
"Oi! I didn't tell them!" Louis told him, then laughed and pointed up at Daphne. "She did."
Corvus's jaw dropped. She blushed.
"Did Louis tell you?" Claire redirected the attention once they'd settled down. She boasted haughtily, "Aiden Lynch - Ireland's Seeker – wants to take me out after they win the Championships. Says the trophy can't possibly shine as brightly as my smile. Isn't that the cutest line you've ever heard?"
The sisters burst into another round of laughs.
"They met when he crashed into the press box," Louis scoffed.
"And I've decided that I'm going to get Daphne here a Quidditch boy as well," Claire continued, holding up a strand of Daphne's hair. "What do you think we should do with her hair?"
Corvus shrugged.
"I'm glad you boys have a girl in on your little club now," said Anna haughtily. "A woman's touch is invaluable – I mean if it weren't for me and Claire promoting you lot to everyone your first year –"
"We talked to Stan Shunepike even!"
They both shuddered. Anna had been in her seventh year and Claire in her sixth when the Salesmen first began. At the beginning there were no contacts, they were too small then for that. Only people in Slytherin knew what they were doing, word didn't start to spread to other Houses until later and it was thanks to Claire and Anna. The Vaisey girls were natural-born trendsetters.
"Of course Daphne's going to help you boys in other ways," grinned Anna, "But nevertheless – it's important to remember how invaluable a woman's –"
Before Anna could finish her sentence, there was a soul-wrenching scream from within one of the other towers. Corvus imagined he saw the entire tent shudder from it. Everyone except for Corvus and Max went rigid.
"What's wrong?"
"Margaux," Louis breathed. "We woke her up."
X
X
Leandra was quite proud of herself. She stood in the Top Box, looking out at the empty stadium. It was massive with golden walls surrounding the long oval pitch. Thousands of seats rose in levels around, and in the Top Box there were twenty-three purple and gilt chairs set in two rows. It was situated exactly halfway between the golden goalposts. Everything was suffused with a golden light that came from stadium itself, radiating strength and power.
Coco sat in her seat close to the middle of the front row, panting from her sheer excitement that morning. Ludo and Barty Crouch had left with the Bulgarian diplomat after the extra seats had been added. "This – is – so – so – Coco never seen – so much – prettiness," her house-elf complimented.
"Thank you, Coco," she took the seat next to her House-elf. She stared at the gigantic blackboard across the pitch from them flashing advertisements. "I wish he could be here for this, a Quidditch World Cup could really do him good," she smiled faintly.
"You speaking about Master Sirius?"
"Coco."
"Sorry – Master Padfoot?"
Leandra nodded.
"But we buy Master Padfoot souvenir, right?"
"Yes, of course we will."
There was a noise from the Top Box's entrance. Leandra turned, slightly alarmed that someone might've heard Coco say Sirius's name. It wasn't anybody though. It was a tiny house-elf with enormous brown eyes and a nose the size and shape of a large tomato. She had her face covered with both her hands.
"Hello!" Coco waved. The other elf quickly waved back so she could properly cover her face again. Leandra frowned, this was curious to say the least.
"Who do you belong to?" asked Leandra.
"Master – Master Crouch, I is his House-elf Winky," she squeaked. "Master wants me to save him a seat… Winky wishes she is back in master's tent, but Winky is a good House-elf… I does what she is told…"
Leandra didn't ask any more questions because right then, as if queued, Barty Crouch himself entered the Top Box, followed my Penelope.
"Winky," he said sharply. "Good you're here."
"Hours before the match, are you really that scared the Bulgarians are going to cadge your seats?" smirked Leandra, standing up.
"I have matters to take care of before the match, there is no telling when I'll be able to tear myself away from them."
"That's the saddest thing I've heard all day," she told him. "I plan on being nothing but free before the match. In fact, Penelope you can take the rest of the afternoon off, just collect Corvus and Max an hour before they set off the gongs so we can arrive together."
Penelope gave a wide smile, though you could easily tell she was exhausted behind it. "Thank you, Miss Leandra."
She waited for Leandra at the Top Box's entrance. Leandra past by Winky and felt something in her hair. But when she brought her hand up to touch it, there was nothing there.
Huh, must've been the wind
...
...
Viola! Louis is back! And so is Daphne! Next chapter we meet the rest of Louis's sisters and it's the Quidditch World Cup!A lot from this chapter and the next few chapters come straight from the book, so... praise be to JK Rowling.I'm sorry to say but next update won't be until Tuesday, I'm very busy these next few days :(
R&R pls!